The Backlands of Craig Village

The Backlands of Craig Village

For decades the men and women of my family have traversed the Craig trench. It leads to the farmlands which have witnessed their lives and eaten up their strength.

The first time I met Craig trench, I sliced through the dark waters for pleasure, not work. To me, the snaking waterway led to adventure and not sustenance. But still, somehow, it came to mean as much to me as it did to generations of my relatives.

Yesterday, I revisited this place of mine. Only, the place and I have never been apart. Etched into mind, heart and soul, the beauty of this path still arrests my senses.

Inside the still surface of the water, I saw the perfection of the sky. Inside Craig trench I could look up better by looking down. By floating along this waterway, my relatives were gliding along the top of the world.

So it’s sad really when I consider the fact that only one of my mamoos (maternal uncles) still uses this path to access the land; to survive. What will become of it? And what will become of the generations which come after me? Will they know the land like we have known it?